Lujan

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Lujan
Río Luján hacia el norte, Luján.jpg
Basic data
location 34 ° 34 ′  S , 59 ° 6 ′  W Coordinates: 34 ° 34 ′  S , 59 ° 6 ′  W
Height above d. M .: 21  m
Population (2001): 67,266
  (Argentina)
 
 
administration
Province : Buenos Aires ProvinceBuenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (Province)
Partido : Lujan
Mayor: Graciela Zulema Rosso
Others
Postal code : B6700
Telephone code: 02323
Luján's website
The Luján Basilica

Luján is a city in eastern Argentina , located in the province of Buenos Aires , 75 kilometers west of the state capital Buenos Aires . It is the most important place of pilgrimage in the country, the city has 67,266 inhabitants (2001).

location

Luján is located in the flat pampas on the Río Luján , which flows into the Río de la Plata at Tigre . The area is used for agriculture.

history

The legend of Luján

According to tradition, the Portuguese Antonio Faria Saá , who lived in the province of Santiago del Estero, ordered a statue of the Virgin Mary from Brazil in 1630. On its journey north from Buenos Aires, the transport convoy stopped in an area about 40 kilometers east of Luján. When the journey was to be continued, the cart in which the statue of Mary was stuck in the ground and did not move any further. When the package with the statue was taken down, the cart was easy to move. This was seen as a sign from God that the statue should remain in this place, and therefore handed it over to the owner of the field, who built a chapel for it, which was soon visited by pilgrims. A young slave from Cape Verde named Manuel became their first priest.

When a new road to the west (today's Ruta Nacional 7 , which runs through Luján) was inaugurated in 1663 , the area in which the chapel stood remained far from traffic. When the chapel was then less and less visited and was getting worse and worse , in 1671 a woman from Arbol Solo , today's Luján, offered to build a chapel there. However, according to legend, the statue inexplicably disappeared three times and reappeared in the old chapel. It was only when processions and masses were dedicated to the statue and finally the slave Manuel was bought and appointed pastor that it allegedly stayed in its new location.

Development of the city of Luján until today

In 1685 the first chapel was finally built in Luján. The flow of pilgrims continued to increase, so that in 1748 a larger church was built. After independence, the city, which in the meantime had also become important militarily in the war against the Indians, continued to grow, and the same thing happened with the stream of pilgrims. In 1864 the city was connected to the railway network. The current church was finally built between 1887 and 1930. Since then, Luján has been the most important place of pilgrimage in Argentina, every year in October there is a pilgrimage from Buenos Aires to Luján, which sometimes numbers tens of thousands. There are now less massive pilgrimage marches from other cities as well. In November there is also a pilgrims' march in horse-drawn carts from Luján to the industrial city of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, also known as a pilgrimage site .

Attractions

The Luján Basilica
The Historical Colonial Museum

The basilica of Luján in neo-Gothic style, inaugurated in 1930, is the largest and most important building in the city. The Historical Colonial Museum consists of two buildings from the colonial era - the Viceroy's House and the Cabildo - and houses testimonies mainly from the period between 1770 and 1816, but also from later eras. The transport museum is the most important in the country, it houses, among other things, several carriages and the first locomotive in Argentina.

economy

In addition to the services for pilgrims, Luján is also the center of the rich agricultural area in the area and therefore has some industry, mainly agribusiness .

Town twinning

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Luján  - collection of images, videos and audio files